Information on Gutter Rock Cr.
Rating: III+ *
TDCR: ????
Location: Logan Co.; Take Hwy 23 south of I-40 at Mulberry the
take Hwy 309 to Paris. From there, all I can remember is
that it's below the north face of Mt. Magazine on a road
labeled 1631C on the topo quads. Find the Cove Cr.
confluence and put in on the road 2 mi. above that.
Take out on another dirt road 1 mile below Cove Cr. on
Short Mtn. Cr. Shuttle is on the river left side of the creek.
Area Map
Topo Quad(s): Blue Mountain, Paris
Gradient: 100 fpm.
Length: 3 mi.
Season: FLOOD
Gauge: Only runnable after extremely heavy rainfall. You may be
able to estimate when Gutter Rock is up by checking the flows
on Dutch Cr. and Pettit Jean at Booneville. When Dutch Cr.
is running 1000 cfs (7.0 ft) or more and Pettit Jean is running
several thousand cfs (12+ ft), Gutter Rock and Shoal Cr. are
probably runnable (that day at least!). Also, check the rainfall
gauge at Blue Mtn. Dam. Over 1.5 inches of recent rain is a good
indicator. You can find these gauges on the ACC Bulletin
Board.
Hazards: heavy strainers, continuous rapids
Description: This creek was first run by Tom Lewis, Cowper Chadbourn,
C. Chevalier, Jim McDaniel, Chris Anderson, Nathan Kline
and Paul Caldwell in Dec. 1993. It is very tight and fast
paced, and contains numerous class III+ rapids. The
gradient is spread out very evenly over the 3 mile run.
Some of the tougher drops are encountered in a small gorge just
above the confluence with Cove Cr. After this confluence you
are on Short Mtn. Cr. which may be boated past the above
mentioned take out. This creek has been described as
comparable to Shoal Cr. I've just seen it dry, so thanks
to Tom Lewis and Cowper Chadbourn for the info. on this one.
Gutter Rock should only be attempted by advanced boaters,
due to the heavy whitewater and the remoteness of the run.
Return to Index